Northrop's military drone business soaring

Northrop's RQ-4 Global Hawk, which can reach altitudes of at least 65,000 feet, is widely used for surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. The drone was largely designed in Rancho Bernardo.
Northrop Grumman

Northrop's RQ-4 Global Hawk, which can reach altitudes of at least 65,000 feet, is widely used for surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. The drone was largely designed in Rancho Bernardo.

These are tense days in the defense industry. The Pentagon has been told to reduce its budget by $450 billion over the next decade, and Congress could make even deeper cuts to control federal spending.

But there are pockets of growth, including the market for unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Northrop Grumman’s Rancho Bernardo operation is a leader in the field, designing such aircraft as the Global Hawk, Fire Scout and the X-47B.

We recently discussed the state of the market with Jim Zortman, the former commander of Naval Air Forces for the Pacific Fleet. He’s now site manager of Northrop’s Unmanned Systems Development Center.

Jim Zortman, site manager for Northrop's unmanned systems business in San Diego County. Northrop Grumman

Jim Zortman, site manager for Northrop's unmanned systems business in San Diego County.

Q: Northrop has about 150 openings for new jobs in its local UAV program. Is this a short-term expansion, or do you expect sustained growth with UAVs?

A: We are meeting the needs of our customers by properly staffing positions where we need work to be done. Since 2008, we have added more than 800 jobs to our unmanned systems programs in San Diego and have been involved developing these systems for 60 years, with over 100,000 delivered to our customers. Northrop Grumman is very focused on growth of our key capabilities, with unmanned systems being one of those areas. According to the market research firm The Teal Group, spending will almost double over the next decade, from current worldwide UAV expenditures of $5.9 billion annually to $11.3 billion, totaling just over $94 billion in the next 10 years.

Q: The Pentagon has said the defense budget will be cut $350 million to $450 million over the next decade. What is the potential impact on Northrop locally if Congress orders deeper cuts? Is the UAV program “recession proof”?

A: Nothing is going to be recession proof, but we do know that the Department of Defense has said that demand for unmanned systems and the capabilities they bring to our military will only increase. With Northrop Grumman’s long history of unmanned systems development, we believe that we’re well positioned to be a leader in this marketplace. Additionally, we are looking actively at how to work more closely with local governments and industry in San Diego to foster and grow business for unmanned systems development so that the region continues to be a leader in this market. Last year, both Northrop Grumman and General Atomics accounted for 50 percent of the world’s unmanned systems market.

Q: The Navy operates a great variety of aircraft. But they’ve been piloted by humans. Will it be difficult to break through this legacy to gain wide acceptance of unmanned “robo-helicopters,” like Fire Scout?

A: We believe that many of the unmanned systems we develop for the U.S. Navy are complementary of manned aircraft. In the case of Fire Scout, the system is paired with SH-60 helicopter aircrews and maintainers to do the long-range and extended missions that can’t be accomplished with aircraft that are limited in range or endurance by the physical limits of people in them. Unmanned systems aren’t meant to replace a person but to allow the Navy to accomplish missions where human endurance becomes a limiting factor. Some of those are the dull, dirty and dangerous missions where having a person in the aircraft cockpit isn’t the right solution.